State police testified Kenney's blood alcohol level was .117, more than five times the legal limit for someone under 21, and he was driving 52 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone on Ridge Boulevard in Dunbar Township when he went off a curve in the roadway, hit a guard rail post and a bridge abutment, went airborne and hit a tree. Troopers testified evidence at the scene showed the driver never attempted to stop the vehicle. The passenger side of the vehicle where Catherine Healy, of Acme, was seated bore the brunt of the impact. Healy was pronounced dead within 24 hours.

Kenney's attorney, Sam Davis, argued prosecutors did not prove a prima facia case for the homicide by vehicle while DUI charge. Davis based his argument on testimony where a trooper told the court the wreck could have occurred with or without alcohol, but it was the Trooper Todd Stephenson's opinion, "an attentive person driving 140 feet off the roadway would have made some attempt to stop the vehicle."

"It was an accident that, disregarding the alcohol, was horrible but could have happened the same way. That's the difference between homicide by vehicle while DUI and just a straight homicide by vehicle," Davis said."No, I don't think alcohol was a direct, proximate, substantial cause of this tragedy."

When asked what was the cause of the wreck, Davis said, "Oh, to be continued."

Davis said a major difference between homicide by vehicle and homicide by vehicle while DUI is the latter charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence with a conviction.

Witness Julia Livengood was at the same party where Kenney and Healy were earlier in the evening of June 8, 2013. Livengood testified she left the party for good around 3 a.m. and Healy had left with Kenney shortly before that. Livengood said she and a friend passed the wreck, Livengood called 911 to report it, and they turned around to help before realizing Kenney and Healy were involved. Livengood said Kenney was hiding behind a tree while Healy was covered in blood and gasping for air in the passenger's seat.

Livengood said she called out to Kenney that it was her, and he came from behind the tree. She said she told him she called 911 and at that point, Kenney jumped inside the truck to try and resuscitate Healy. After emergency medical technicians arrived, Livengood testified Kenney fled the scene through the woods. State police later caught him at his father's house and took him into custody.

At one point during a recess in the four-hour-long preliminary hearing Thursday, Healy's mother set a jar of her daughter's ashes on the defense table next to Kenney and told him that was her daughter.

"It's tough to sit there and listen to somebody argue with the true facts, and it's hard to try and find the loophole. That's what's the most difficult to listen to," said Healy's best friend, Chelsea Magnusen."We want people to remember her in a positive light, to not see this as some sort of grieving. To bring the community together and bring happiness and do things Cat would want them to enjoy."

Kenney remains free on $50,000 unsecured bond while he awaits his formal arraignment in August.

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